Where is Sen. Schatz?

For once, I will keep it short – partially because what needs to be said has already been said.  This gem comes courtesy Politico in an article today about the most absent elected officials in Washington D.C.:

If there were a perfect attendance award for Congress, Sen. Susan Collins would get it. Since taking office in 1997, the Maine Republican hasn’t missed a vote in 5,788 opportunities.

But some of her colleagues have missed quite a few over the years.

The short article goes on to say:

Republicans make up nine of the 10 spots on Vocativ’s Senate list, with Hawaii Democrat Brian Schatz missing the third-most votes after his appointment to the seat following the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye in December 2012. He was subsequently reelected last November.

You can access the article on Politico here.  The original Vocativ article can be found here.

Rather than taking this at face value, some leeway should be granted to our congressional delegation when interpreting attendance records such as this one.  However, one would expect Hirono and Gabbard to have just as much trouble.  This is not the case.

If Schatz is not in Congress voting on our behalf – a) who is representing Hawaii when he is not there, and b) what is he doing that is more important than being a voice for Hawaii?